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Virtual sheriffs in the wild, wild west of digital currency

Digital currency is in its “wild, wild west stage of development”. Like any classic Spaghetti Western, the standard narrative in the cryptocurrency market is one of extreme volatility and dramatic plot swings, with crypto-cowboys herding cyber bandits away from their digital cash.

Virtual sheriffs are needed in the wild, wild west of digital currency, to reassure traditional financial experts, investors, and other invested parties like insurers and brokers, of the cybersecurity of the market.

One way to test the security of these platforms is to give ethical hackers (or researchers) free reign to test for vulnerabilities. This is called a ‘bug bounty’ program. Cryptocurrency platform Dash has a bug bounty program directed by Jim Bursch, which offers monetary incentives for hackers to identify points of weakness in the security of Dash’s digital cash.

“There are two main vulnerabilities with regards to digital currency that insurers and brokers should be aware of: double spend and theft,” Bursch told Insurance Business. “A double spend is when two different transactions are sent into the network to spend the same digital currency. However, most systems are designed to prevent this.